Numerical Calculation of the Performance of a Thermoacoustic System with Engine and Cooler Stacks in a Looped Tube

The performance of a thermoacoustic system that is composed of a looped tube, an engine stack, a cooler stack, and four heat exchangers, is numerically investigated. Each stack has narrow flow channels, is sandwiched by two heat exchangers, and is located in the looped tube. In order to provide a de...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Irna Farikhah, Yuki Ueda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-06-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/7/672
Description
Summary:The performance of a thermoacoustic system that is composed of a looped tube, an engine stack, a cooler stack, and four heat exchangers, is numerically investigated. Each stack has narrow flow channels, is sandwiched by two heat exchangers, and is located in the looped tube. In order to provide a design guide, the performance of the system is numerically calculated by changing the following three parameters: the radius of the flow channels in the engine stack, the radius of the flow channels in the cooler stack, and the relative position of the cooler stack. It was found that when the three parameters are optimized, the efficiency of the engine stack reaches 75% of Carnot’s efficiency and the coefficient of the performance (COP) of the cooler stack is 53% of Carnot’s COP, whereas 33% of the acoustic power generated by the engine stack is utilized in the cooler stack.
ISSN:2076-3417